A much needed conversation
by Landon Richardson
Summary: Steve McGarrett wasn't sure what had gone wrong, or even where Danni had disappeared to but when she turns up in his office, he was determined that they were going to finally clear things up. (Part six of the Medical Examiner saga) (Steve x OC) (Featured male Danny)


A much-needed conversation

By

Landon Richardson

Official Disclaimer

**Please note that the characters of Steve McGarrett, Mary McGarrett, Danny Williams, Chin Ho Kelly, Kono Kalakaua and Catherine Rollins do not belong to me in any shape of form. I am merely using them for my own entertainment purposes.**

**The character of Danielle 'Danni' Richardson, however does belong to me so please do not use them without first asking and obtaining permission.**

**Any other character who might pop up who you don't instantly recognise the name of probably belongs to me as well**

**Thank you**

Author Note

**Welcome to 'A much-needed conversation' part Six of the Medical Examiner Saga**

**Things take a turn for the better from this chapter onwards.**

**Anyway, please enjoy!**

Story Summary

**Steve McGarrett wasn't sure what had gone wrong, or even where Danni had disappeared to but when she turns up in his office, he was determined that they were going to finally clear things up. (Part six of the Medical Examiner saga) (Steve x OC) (Featured male Danny)**

Romantic pairings

**Steve McGarrett / Danielle Richardson (McDanni)**

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Steve McGarrett stared down at his cold coffee through unseeing eyes, wondering how on earth things with Danielle Richardson could have gone so badly in such a short amount of time.

He had thought that his strategy had been sound; get Danielle alone in an environment which she would be comfortable in, get her a drink which he knew from experience that she liked and then follow his sister's advice and speak to her about how he felt for her, starting with making her admit out loud, if only to herself and to him, that what they had been doing for the past six week was more than just two colleagues going out for dinner together and that they were in fact dating each other.

That had been his plan but somewhere along the way it had all gone wrong and seemingly the mention of his conversation with Catherine and her imminent arrival onto the island had cause Danielle to suddenly pale, her eyes suddenly flashing with grey fire before she had seemingly lost her temper with him, accusing him of only asking her to meet him for coffee so he could get permission from her to have sex with Catherine without feeling any guilt over.

It had been a surprise to see that side of her when she had always come across before as serenely calm and the difference had kept him glued to his seat, unable to react as she had gathered her belongings together and all but ran from the café, the hint of pain and hurt he caught on her face causing him to swallow hard at the sharp pain that stabbed at his heart.

His attempts at calling her had failed as well leaving him alone with the whirling thoughts in his mind.

It seemed to him that he had managed, somehow, to fuck up the one relationship in his life which he had wanted to flourish and had no idea what he could do about it.

The only hope he could hold onto was the fact that by the way she had reacted to it, it was clear that she cared for him a great deal, more than someone who merely saw someone else as a friend if the simple thought of Steve being with someone else had managed to break through the serene mask which she normally wore.

Steve reached up, dragging his hand through his hair before he dropped it down to the table, aware even as he did that the waitress who had taken his order when he first arrived was hovering nearby clearly looking for the best moment to approach him.

The last thing he needed right now was to have to deal with that on top pf everything else. Not when every part of him was merely focused on finding Danielle and making her listen to him and the words he wanted to say to her.

"Can I get you anything else Sir?"

Steve glanced to the side of him, sighing silent when he saw that she had finally made her move and was now staring at her with hopeful eyes.

"Nothing further, thank you." Steve replied, forcing himself to smile politely at her rather then going with his first instinct of ignoring her very existent. If he somehow managed to salvage thing with Danielle then they both might want to come back to the café in the future.

"What about you girlfriend? Is she coming back? Would she want anything?" The girl pressed, almost transparent in her attempt to find out whether Steve and Danielle were a couple, or whether the blonde was merely a friend of Steve's. He should have been flattered since the woman was attractive and about his age but all he could feel was a sense of rage flickering to life in him and steadily growing with every passing second. His smile slipped from his face as he merely shook his head at her.

"No, she's fine as well" He told her shortly as he came to his feet, throwing down a five-dollar bill onto the table to pay for both drinks before he stepped out of the booth and moved out of the coffee shop without another word. He glanced around him once before turning to the right and heading down the pavement in the direction of the Five-O headquarters, wishing as he did that he had taken his truck instead of walking, not only did the sky above him look heavy as though it was going to start raining again but the walk meant that he was left his thoughts, his mind constantly replaying the scene in the café trying to figure out where he had gone wrong until he wanted to yell or at least throw something in his frustration.

He needed to speak to Danielle to clear things up but he had no idea where she would head to clear her head. There was a chance that she had simply headed back to work but he doubted it. He wished that he had taken the time to ask her where she liked to go on the island. At least then he would have an idea where to start his search.

He blinked, coming to a sudden stop when he realised that he was now in front of the Five-O headquarters making him wonder briefly just how long he had been locked in his own thoughts and just how quickly he had been walking.

The urge to carry on walking hit him but he forced himself to ignore it and instead made his way into the building, his eyes barely flickering towards the guards who merely took a look at his face before waving him through making him briefly wonder what the expression on his face was like.

He took the stairs two at a time, glancing down at his phone before he hit the connect button and brought the handset to his ears, silently cursing to himself when the call merely rang out to the voicemail.

"Damn it Danni, just pick up your phone to me." He murmured to himself as he ended the call and lowered the phone, pushing the glass door open and headed straight towards his office with little more than a glance around him. He hoped that the look on his face would be enough to deter anyone from talking to him but he knew even as he took his seat that it was a hopeless wish. He didn't even have time to enter his password into his computer before the door was pushed open and his partner walked in, his hands shoved into his pocket.

Steve spared him a glance before he looked down, picking up one of the files from his inbox, his shoulders hunching up when Danny spoke.

"So, when you said you were going to be late back from lunch did you miscalculate or something because if anything, you're back earlier then you normally are." He pointed out as he twisted around on the spot and closed the door behind him so that no one in the main room would be able to hear the conversation between the two of them.

"Things happen" Steve replied shortly as he flipped the file open and picked up the nearest pen to him, his eyes scanning the sheet of paper in front of him.

"Things happen?" Danny repeated as he lowered himself into the chair on the opposite side of the desk to Steve. "Well you're not wrong there, things definitely do happen but see I was under the impression from what you had hinted out that you were heading out to meet Danielle for lunch."

Steve's fingers tightened on the pen.

"Oh" Steve replied flatly when the silence continued, wishing not for the first time that Danny wasn't so good at being a Detective.

"Oh? Just oh? Care to go into more details about what that means? Oh, as in you met Danielle and something happened? Something which has put that look on your face because let me tell you Buddy, you look ready to blow a gasket any minutes now and lets be honest, normally when you and Danielle meet you come back content and happy with life so what is it then? Did she dump you or something?" He asked almost absently.

Steve was briefly aware of the pen in his hand snapping in half as he looked up and met Danny's eyes picking up on the surprised look on the other man's face which swiftly melted into concern, his blue eyes flickering down to the remains of the pen in Steve's hand before his eyes came up.

"Danny" Steve stated, his voice clipped and measured. "Don't you have any work that you can be getting on with because if you've finished everything then I can easily find you something to do so you aren't wasting your time." He told the blond man.

"Wow" Danny remarked as he leaned back on his chair and crossed his arms over his chest. "Whatever happened at this lunch has really done you in hasn't it and if I know you then you're going to internalise it and then you're going to be really grumpy with the rest of us so come on and spill what happened, you'll feel better if you do." He assured him as he lifted his hand and made a come-on motion with it in Steve's direction.

For a moment Steve considered leaning across the desk and twisting Danny's hand until it broke to stop the motion but resisted the urge reminding himself that he actually liked the man opposite him and needed him fighting fit.

"Look, Danny, I appreciate your concern but…" His voice trailed off leaving an awkward silence in its wake. He watched waiting while Danny gathered himself together, clearly trying to pick the best words for his speech.

"Steve look…" He began, his words cutting off when the door behind them opened again. Steve looked up, his eyes widening when he saw Danielle in the doorway, her eyes focused on Steve as he came instantly to his feet.

"Danni" He breathed, resisting the urge to move towards her, his eyes watching as she took a few steps into the room before she stopped, her gaze landing on Danny for the first time.

"Oh Danny, I'm sorry I didn't know you were in here, erm… I can… erm, I can come back another time if its urgent." Danielle said, stumbling over her words in a way Steve hadn't seen before.

"No" Steve stated, louder than he needed to. "No Danni, please wait, Danno was just finishing up here, it wasn't urgent." He looked in Danny's direction when the man clearly took his cue and came to his feet.

"Yeah I was just about to leave, I've got plenty of work to be getting on with after all." Danny said with a nod at them both. "I'll speak to you later Steve and Danielle it's always good to see you." He smiled at her before moving past her and out of the office, giving Steve a pointed look over Danielle's head as he closed the door, leaving them both alone with one another.

For a moment Steve and Danielle merely stared at each other before Danielle swallowed and took a step towards him again.

"I'm sorry" She said, coming to a hesitant stop in front of his desk. "For how I reacted earlier, I don't know what came over me, I shouldn't have reacted that way or stormed off on you, I'm sorry." She repeated again.

Steve moved around her heading to the glass panes and swiftly pulled down the blinds, aware as he did that the rest of the team had gathered around the computer table, pretending to look as though they were working when in fact, they were simply interested in what was happening in his office. The looks of disappointment which came to their face at his actions almost made him smile as he finished the last blind and moved back over to Danielle, noting that she was still standing in the same position, her head tilted around as she watching him though grey eyes which looked unsure.

He stopped beside her and wrapped his arm around her elbow and left her over to the sofa which he lowered her onto it, taking the spare seat beside her. He twisted himself around so he was facing her before he spoke.

"Why did you react the way you did?" He asked her quietly, keeping his eyes on her face, his hand coming up and framing her face, not allowing her to look away from him as he waited for her to answer him, aware of his heartrate increasing. "Danni why did you react the way that you did, tell me." He repeated, unable to resist stroking his thumb across her cheekbone, aware as he did that this was the first time, he had touched her in an intimate fashion.

He wondered whether she was going to reply before she finally did in a quiet voice

"Because I was jealous." She admitted with a shrug, a frown coming to her face. "Is that what you wanted me to say to you Steve. I was jealous at the thought of you wanting to be with someone else and maybe it made me act stupid. I should have listened to what you had to say to me."

"And do you know now what I was trying to say to you Danni?" He queried, needed to hear her say out loud that they were on the same page as one another finally.

"You're really going to make me say it." She said, searching his eyes before she flushed and sighed. "You were trying to find out where the two of us stood with one another and you wanted me to admit to you that what we have with each other goes beyond friendship because you want to be able to tell your friend when she arrives that you're off the market in a relationship?" She said, his voice coming across as questioning

Steve couldn't help the smile which came to his face as he nodded at her.

"That's right. I'm not great at this Danni so I probably didn't help by not making things clear to you so let me do that now okay?" He asked her, watching as the tension in her shoulders eased away.

"Okay" She said with a nod of her head.

"Good." He said, bringing up his other hand and framing her face. "Danni, I really like you and I want us to start dating properly, we're already doing it so I want us to make it official."

For a moment she merely stared at him before she nodded.

"I want that as well." She told him, her hands coming up, her palms resting almost hesitantly on his chest. "I am sorry about earlier, about how I reacted." She repeated.

"You don't have to say sorry." Steve answered her, searching her eyes before he leaned forward and kissed her, the touch soft and gentle before he moved back, staying close enough to her so he could feel the touch of her shaky breath against his lips as her eyes fluttered open. "So, are we finally on the same page as each other." He whispered smiling when she nodded at him, her grey eyes brightening.

"Yeah Steve, we're finally on the same page."

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Author Note

**Thanks for taking the time to read. An especially big thank you if you have left me a review, favourite the story or decided to follow it. **

**I really appreciate it**


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